The present invention provides an apparatus for improving the dynamic response or feel of a golf club as it strikes a golf ball during play by selectively adding weight to the upper end of the shaft. Although there are many products and prior patents relating to adjusting the swing weight, feel, or balance of a golf club, few if any of these devices are directed towards improving the dynamic response, or feedback, of the club to the golfer at ball impact. Most prior art devices are aimed more specifically at the static or quasi-static feel of the club in the golfer's hand at the initial alignment, or during the back and forward swings. Such devices usually focus on the feel of the club itself, not the feel of the shot through the club. The importance of impact and dynamic response to the golfer's game are often overlooked.
Impact is momentary, but it is at and immediately following this critical moment that the golfer feels his shot through the dynamic response of the club. As many golfers will confess, after impact one often knows where the ball is heading without having to actually see its trajectory. The golfer has only one tactile interface to the club, and that is through his hands which grasp the club's shaft on the grip. It is thus through the golfer's hands gripping the shaft that the dynamic response of the club to the golfer's stroke is communicated. This dynamic response is a result of the vibration characteristics of the club, and the golfer often perceives it simply as feel. Thus it follows that if the club's dynamic response can be increased in this specific gripping area, the golfer will have a better feel for his shot.
The present invention provides an apparatus for improving the dynamic response of the golf club by allowing a golfer to selectively adjust the weight of the club at its grip end. This action in turn enhances the feel of the club to the golfer.